Tubing set having a gate for the connection of vials

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9839737-B2
Application number	US-201013505320-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 25, 2010
Priority date	Nov 4, 2009
Publication date	Dec 12, 2017
Grant date	Dec 12, 2017

Abstract

A tubing set suitable for use in co-operation with a hemodialysis machine includes an out-tube for supplying the blood from the patient to a filter of the machine, an in-tube for supplying the blood from the filter back to the patient, a drip chamber placed along one of the tubes, adapted to let the blood drip through an air buffer, and a vial gate for the connection of vials containing drugs to be delivered into the blood. The vial gate includes a delivery lumen, suitable for delivering the drug from the vial to the drip chamber, and a vent lumen, suitable for providing air inside the vial in order to replace the delivered drug.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A tubing set suitable for use in co-operation with a machine for carrying out a hemodialysis treatment of a patient's blood, said tubing set comprising:
an out-tube for supplying the blood from the patient to a filter of said machine;
an in-tube for supplying the blood from the filter back to the patient;
a drip chamber placed along one of said out-tube or in-tube, adapted to let the blood drip through an air buffer; and
a vial gate for the connection of an inverted vial containing a drug to be delivered into the blood,
said vial gate including a delivery lumen, suitable for delivering the drug from the vial to the drip chamber, and a vent lumen, suitable for providing air inside the vial in order to replace the delivered drug,
the vent lumen putting in communication an interior of the vial with the air buffer of the drip chamber, and the delivery lumen putting in communication the interior of the vial with the drip chamber, and
a top end of the vent lumen reaching a higher position inside the vial with respect to a top end of the delivery lumen so as to effect the delivery of the drug from the vial to the drip chamber, with the top end of the vent lumen extending into an air space at a top section of the inverted vial.

2. The tubing set according to claim 1 , wherein said air buffer is under a pressure which is different from atmospheric pressure.

3. The tubing set according to claim 1 , wherein said vial gate includes a connecting element for ensuring a safe connection of the vial, the connecting element being so arranged that the fluid connection can be opened only when the vial is properly placed on the vial gate and, respectively, the vial can be removed only when the fluid connection is closed.

4. The tubing set according to claim 1 , wherein the vial gate includes an adjusting element for adjustably obstructing an inner cross section of the delivery lumen so as to adjust a delivery rate of the drug.

5. The tubing set according to claim 1 , wherein the drip chamber is placed along the in-tube.

6. The tubing set according to claim 1 , wherein the delivery lumen includes an inner layer having a co-extruded construction, a polymer grafted construction, or a construction of a coating with a low adhesion material, suitable for minimizing adhesion of droplets of the drug.

7. The tubing set according to claim 6 , wherein said low adhesion material is a highly hydrophobic material.

8. The tubing set according to claim 6 , wherein said low adhesion material is a hydrophilic hydrogel.

9. The tubing set according to claim 1 , further comprising a substitution liquid circuit feeding a false vial for washing the delivery lumen so as to remove any remainder droplets of the drug before the delivery of a subsequent drug.

10. The tubing set according to claim 1 , wherein an inner diameter of the top end of the delivery lumen is larger than an inner diameter of the top end of the vent lumen.

11. The tubing set according to claim 1 , further comprising an air pump and a pressure conduit associated with the drip chamber, with the pressure conduit connecting the air buffer with the air pump.

12. The tubing set according to claim 11 , wherein said pressure conduit includes a pressure transducer suitable for measuring the pressure inside at least one of the drip chamber and the vial.

13. A method of delivering a drug in a hemodialysis extra-corporeal circuit, said method comprising the steps of:
providing a machine for carrying out a hemodialysis treatment of a patient's blood;
providing the machine with the tubing set according to claim 1 ; and
connecting the vial containing the drug to the vial gate, so as to put in communication the interior of the vial both with the delivery lumen and with the vent lumen, the delivery lumen being suitable for delivering the drug to the drip chamber, and the vent lumen being suitable for providing air inside the vial in order to replace the delivered drug.

14. The method according to claim 13 , further comprising the step of operating an air pump so as to feed to the drip chamber a volume of the air equal to the volume of the drug to be delivered.

15. The method according to claim 13 , further comprising the steps of setting a switch in the delivery configuration and, subsequently, operating the air pump so as to feed to the vial a volume of the air determined on a basis of the volume of the drug to be delivered.

16. A tubing set for use in co-operation with a machine for carrying out a hemodialysis treatment of blood of a patient, said tubing set comprising:
an out-tube for supplying the blood from the patient to a filter of the machine;
an in-tube for supplying the blood from the filter back to the patient;
a drip chamber placed along one of the out-tube and the in-tube, adapted to let the blood drip through an air buffer;
a vial gate for the connection of a vial containing a drug to be delivered into the blood, the vial gate including a delivery lumen for delivering the drug from the vial to the drip chamber, and a vent lumen for providing air inside the vial in order to replace the delivered drug,
the vent lumen communicating an interior of the vial with the air buffer, and the delivery lumen communicating the interior of the vial with the drip chamber; and
a substitution liquid circuit feeding a false vial for washing the delivery lumen so as to remove any remainder droplets of the drug before the delivery of a subsequent drug.

17. The tubing set according to claim 16 , wherein the connected vial is in an inverted orientation.

Assignees

• Reiter Reinhold
• Fini Massimo
• Veneroni Alain
• Bartholomaeus Johannes
• Wiesen Gerhard
• Fresenius Medical Care Deutschland Gmbh

Inventors

• Reiter Reinhold
• Fini Massimo
• Veneroni Alain
• Bartholomaeus Johannes
• Wiesen Gerhard

Classifications

• A61M2205/3331

  Pressure; Flow · CPC title

• A61M1/3621

  Extra-corporeal blood circuits (single-needle circuits A61M1/30) · CPC title

• A61M2205/07

  having air pumping means · CPC title

• A61M1/3672 Primary

  Means preventing coagulation · CPC title

• A61M1/3627

  Degassing devices; Buffer reservoirs; Drip chambers; Blood filters · CPC title